You can almost hear the cries of outrage from the premier's office as Pauline Marois absorbs the fact that the number of Quebecers who speak nothing but French at home has fallen yet again: from 77% in 2001, to 75.1% in 2006, and 72.8% last year.

There are, supposedly, only two certainties in life — death and taxes. In Canada, however, there may be a third: any issue related to language will have Quebec up in arms.

No doubt the latest report on bilingualism from Statistics Canada will have the usual effect. You can almost hear the cries of outrage from the premier’s office as Pauline Marois absorbs the fact that the number of Quebecers who speak nothing but French at home has fallen yet again: from 77% in 2001, to 75.1% in 2006, and 72.8% last year.

OMG!, or whatever the French equivalent is. (And now that I think of it, do Quebec teens who tap OMG! into their phones risk getting a visit from the language police, for culturally inappropriate messaging?) That’s four percentage points in declining French culture in just 10 years. Quebec’s unique uniqueness is four points closer to extinction. The heavy footsteps of assimilation are clomping down the hall.

Worse, the only growth in official bilingualism is taking place in Quebec, where more native French-speakers are learning English. As reported by Postmedia News:

The number of people who can conduct a conversation in both English and French jumped by nearly 350,000 to 5.8 million. That meant the bilingualism rate of the Canadian population edged up from 17.4 per cent in 2006 to 17.5 per cent in 2011. But the hike is largely due to people in Quebec speaking both languages. Outside the province, the rate of bilingualism dipped slightly, by half a percentage point.

Those dirty anglos, you see what they’re up to? Slowly but surely they are enticing innocent Quebecers into learning their infernal language, while arrogantly refusing to study French themselves. It is not to be tolerated.

There are some obvious lessons to be taken from the figures, though I doubt they’re the same conclusions that will be reached by Ms. Marois and her aides:

1. Quebecers are learning English because it’s useful to them. It helps in business, on the internet, in getting a job, in dealing with the rest of North America (and the world) outside Quebec. All the barriers Quebec erects against young people attending school in English haven’t been able to change that.

2. Canadians outside Quebec don’t have the same motivation to learn French. Outside the province, it doesn’t add much value in terms of career, income or social success. You can require it in school, but students will drop it at the first opportunity if they don’t see an advantage, which the vast majority don’t.

3. That being the case, official bilingualism programs are largely an expensive exercise in attempted social manipulation, which produce little in the way of results. After 50 years of trying, bilingualism has hit a wall. The real growth is in people who speak a language other than English or French at home: 6.6 million people, or one in five Canadians. In the cities the percentage is even higher: 31% in Vancouver, 32.4% in Toronto.

4. The more Canada relies on immigration for its growth, which it does to a heavy degree, the more “immigrant languages” will grow as a proportion of the whole. And that’s a good thing.

“When I look at the globalized world that we live in, the fact that we ourselves are becoming more diverse and reflecting all of those languages is a real asset to us as a country today,” said Doug Norris, chief demographer at Environics Analytics. “I think it strengthens us as a nation as opposed to a country which was very singular in terms of its language or ethnicity.”

There is little dispute to this in English Canada. Quebec is understandably sensitive about its language, but would be wise to abandon the bunker mentality that colours so much of its political culture and learn to appreciate the advantages that diversity brings. (The bilingualism figures also show 95% of Quebecers can carry on a conversation in French, which is probably more than can speak English in parts of Toronto or Vancouver). The last thing we need is more paranoid barriers to the linguistic realities of the country. But as long as Ms. Marois is around, we’ll probably get them anyway.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.